Adapted from the bestselling Liane Moriarty novel, Big Little Lies was originally greenlit by the premium cabler as a single-season limited series. As such, no deals were in place for the likes of Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon to return, once an unanticipated second season of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning series was ordered in December.

HBO thus was left to pay market price for any returning cast, including Emmy winners Kidman and Laura Dern, and Emmy nominee Witherspoon.

“From a budget standpoint, going into Season 2 of Big Little Lies without any options in place, we’ve been… um… short of raped,” our sister site Deadline quoted Orsi, HBO’s co-drama chief, as saying at the INTV conference being held this week in Jerusalem.

“Obviously, I am embarrassed by my poor choice of words,” Orsi said on Tuesday in a statement to TVLine. “We are extremely proud of Big Little Lies and excited for the second season.”